Bears Coaches See Few Special Concerns

October 10, 1995|By Mike Kiley, Tribune Staff Writer.

Watching the Bears this season is like observing the rough draft of a country song.

Heartache has overflowed, the team embraced as willingly as a warm beer. There is an overload of worry that the love affair between city and team will end badly--in hurtful boos, pitiful laments and possibly an irrevocable separation.

But Danny Abramowicz is here to tell you to lighten up, you snide and eternally pessimistic sports fans. The Sauerbrun Saga has made for a good soap opera, the special-teams coach emphasized, but contributed as well to a distortion of reality.

He thinks these woes have negatively affected the perception of special teams as a whole, not to mention made punt coverage harder than it should be even if Carl Lewis was sprinting downfield.

Abramowicz acknowledges some frustration and points to problem areas in punt coverage and punt returns, but admits to no real concern.

"By the end of the season we'll be up there as we have been the last two years in special teams, when we've been somewhere around seventh or eighth in the league," Abramowicz vowed Monday. "But we're not up there now."

Those statistics are unofficial. A Dallas Cowboys staffer throws a bunch of figures in the hopper and distributes the information with others in the NFL. Abramowicz isn't a statistics freak, anyway.

"I don't need statistics to tell me we've got to make more big plays, but we made some big plays Sunday that got lost in the shuffle," he said, "even though we came awfully close to being responsible for losing a second straight game.

"And our goal on special teams is to help win at least two games a year and lose none."

Field position, due largely to punter Todd Sauerbrun's well-documented struggles, helped sink the Bears in a 34-28 loss to St. Louis. The Carolina Panthers were just over 2 minutes away from adding to the special-teams malaise when Eric Guliford took a line-drive punt, eluded three possible tackles and put the Panthers ahead 27-24 with a 62-yard punt return Sunday.

But the Bears responded on special teams throughout the fourth quarter, beginning moments after Carolina forced a fumble on a sack and scored to take a 20-17 edge. Nate Lewis immediately ran back the kickoff 34 yards to the Bears' 49 to set up a 51-yard, nine-play drive on which the Bears scored.

After Guliford's score, Robert Green returned the kickoff 19 yards to the Bears' 40. Ten plays and 60 yards later, a Bears touchdown pulled a 31-27 decision out of the fire.

"There are some good things happening on special teams," Abramowicz emphasized. "But special teams is being magnified now by what's going on with our punting game.

"I'm not saying there are things we can't do better. Our punt-return game can be improved and our punt coverage can be better."

There is a glaring difference in punt-return average. Opponents have averaged 12.3 yards per return, while the Bears are at 5.9. Last season, the Bears averaged 8.1 and opponents 8.7.

But neither coach Dave Wannstedt nor Abramowicz were critical of Jeff Graham for his decision-making on punt returns. "It's easy to second-guess when you sit here with the clicker," Abramowicz said. "Jeff's been a good punt returner for us and Dave is big on ball security."

Inexperience is part of the punt-coverage problem.

"We have some young guys who have to step it up another notch on coverage," Abramowicz said. "I'm talking about Anthony Marshall, Dwayne Joseph, James Burton, Kevin Miniefield, Keshon Johnson."

Wannstedt and his staff, however, included special teams in their game balls this week. That is another indication that while the outside world may be panicking over Sauerbrun's troubles, the Bears remain optimistic.

Myron Baker, a linebacker whose main task is special-teams coverage, received the game ball for three tackles on kick coverage.

"Playing special teams isn't like offense or defense," Baker said. "You get one shot at it. That's all. Mess up on offense or defense and you get to go back the next play."

But taking all the parts in total, Wannstedt rates his special teams as a plus after five games.

"Our field-goal-blocking effort is good," Wannstedt added. "John Thierry almost had one Sunday. Our field-goal unit is good , we've blocked two punts. I'm happy with our special teams."

But as long as Sauerbrun keeps scuffling, the special teams will be dragged down with him. That's why his turnaround is critical.

"It's just as easy to emphasize Nate Lewis as Todd Sauerbrun," Abramowicz said.